Floor jack



Oct. 9 1923.

R. E. WATTS FLOOR JACK Filed Jan. 20 1925 atroz/nuja Patented @et 9, 1923.

UNITEDy y STTES Parent trice. I

RUFLEY n. wili'rfrs, or frn'nN'i'oN, iiissonni, Assienon on cnn-rincer retorno. ir.. Huis- BELL, 4or rann'ron, ifrissouni.

FLOOR JACK.

Application led January 20, i923. Serial No. 613,953.

T all whom t may concer/a.'

Be it known that I, RUFLEY E. l/Var'rs, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Trenton, in the county of Grundy and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Floor Jack, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to jack con-v struction and more particularly to a jack especially designed for use in laying flooring.

The primary object of the invention is to provide means which may be conveniently operated by the person layingv the flooring to force a board to be laid into close engagement with a board which has been secured in position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for automatically holding the jack in its positions of adjustment so that the operator may move his hands from the jack to nail the board, held. thereby.

A still further object of the invention'is to provide a jaw adapted to t rover the tongue of the board being laid, thereby7 eliminating any possibility of inarring the board or distorting the tongue.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the conibination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the `precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is a side elevational view disclosing the jack in posit-ion to force a board in position for laying.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1. y

Referring to the drawing in detail, the liaclr embodies a board engaging jaw 5 which is relatively wide as clearly shown by Figure 2 of the drawings, and an anchoring jaw 6, the anchoring jaw being .provided with piercing end 7 designed to bite into a rafter or beam on which the flooring is being positioned.

The board engaging jaw 5 is formed with spaced armsS between which the rounded head 9 of the `anchoring j awt` is pivotally i supported, the' pivot pin being indicated at 10. y

Forming a part of the body portion of the jaw 5 are spaced arms 11 that extend at right angles with respect to the body portion 5 where they have pivotal connec- 'tion with the lever 12 as at 13. This lever is formed with a curved portion 14 that` normally engages one edge 'of the head 9 so that when Athe lever 12' is moved in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 of the drawing, the jaw 5 will be moved in the is indicated at 15, towards the adjacent board which has been already positioned.

Tn order that the lever 12 will beheld against lateral movement, a link member 16 is provided, which link member embraces the lever-12 at the point of engagement with the head 9.

Associated with the members 5 and 6 are the arms 17, which havefpivotal connection with the member 5 as at 18, the opposite ends thereof being connected by the plate 19 which straddles the member 6 as clearly shown by Figure 2 of the drawing. The plate 19 is designed to engage between the teeth 2() formed in the upper edge of the member 6 and support the members 5 and 6 against movement with respect to each other, after the lever l2 has been moved to -is claimed as new is 1. A Jack including opposed members pvotally connected at their upper ends, a pair of arms pivotally connected with one of the members, a plate connecting the free ends of the arms, teeth formed on the upper edge of one of the members and adapted to be y @nea 2cd b the late to restrict movement positioned between the furcations of the bifur-cated end, a lever having a curved portion Contacting With the head to move the 10 members avvay from each other, and means for restricting movement of the members to- Wards each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of Witnesses.

RUFLEY E. WATTS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. HUBBELL, E. O. VVRAZART,` DELBERT AMES PROFFIT. 

